MUMBAI: Computer generated image (CGI) technology has made a major
impression on the silver screen over the last couple of years. Shrek
won Dreamworks an Oscar. Ice Age proved to be a monster hit
for Rupert Murdoch's Fox last year. It was only a matter of time
before the concept came to television.

US network NBC has teamed up with DreamWorks for what is a first
on television, namely a primetime series made only using computer-generated
images.

A Reuters report indicates that the show, titled Father of the
Pride, will deal with the foibles of a family (albeit animals)
with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour. The half-hour series will
revolve around the competition between a family of snobbish white
tigers and a white lion pride featured in the Siegfried & Roy theatre
act. The Las Vegas show is filled with elaborate sets, costumes,
illusions, and live exotic animals. The NBC Dreamworks TV show will
debut next year.

CGI has blown away the old fashioned technique of animated drawings.
Besides the kids the above-mentioned CGI feature films have managed
to hook in the adults and that is something NBC and Jeffrey Katzenberg
no doubt must be hoping for.

Readers will recall that the CGI technique came into prominence
in 1995 with the release of Toy Story. Through painstaking
work involving hours of research the production team was able to
make the facial features and movements of Woody and Buzz Lightyear
somewhat resemble Tom Hanks and Tim Allen who memorably voiced the
characters.

Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and the rest of the Dreamworks gang
are obviously looking to push the envelope regarding the work possible
with CGI. The project will mean that the studio will have to stay
in front regarding the latest advancements in CGI.